About me
Dr. Pitts is Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Practice and a nationally recognized clinical professor and nurse practitioner educator. She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice and Master of Science in Nursing from Vanderbilt University, a Master of Public Health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and completed doctoral study in nursing at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (PhD, 2026).
Dr. Pitts brings more than a decade of experience in Family Nurse Practitioner education, program leadership, and clinical practice, with senior faculty appointments at Vanderbilt University and Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, where she served as Clinical Professor and FNP Specialty Director. She has led highly ranked FNP programs and advanced competency-based, clinically focused curricula while maintaining an active primary care practice with expertise in HIV care.
Her national impact is reflected in a strong record of peer-reviewed scholarship, editorial leadership with the Journal for Nurse Practitioners, elected service on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, and appointment by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice.
